Media sessions can be quite dull; reporters are asking the kinds of questions the players have been trained to answer in the same cut-and-dry manner.
Enter Baker Mayfield and the chip he faithfully carries on his shoulder for motivation.
ESPN the Magazine recently detailed Mayfield's journey to become the starting quarterback for one of the best teams in college football coming off a season that earned him Heisman Trophy votes.
Mayfield's talent was undeniable, but his size hurt his recruitment, and many a program wanted him to walk-on but would not offer him a scholarship. He walked on at Texas Tech, started as a freshman, but wound up transferring to Oklahoma, where he walked on again.
One of those programs that spurned him was TCU, and no, Mayfield has not forgotten.
CBS Sports noted the Sooners' QB answered a media session question Monday asking what school he was most disappointed did not offer him a scholarship.
From CBS Sports:
"TCU," he replied without hesitation. "They told me they were gonna offer me a scholarship and kind of drug it out, and I told other schools I wasn't interested because I thought I was going to go there, and I truly believed they were going to offer me because they told me that. They disappointed me and kind of hung me out to dry right before signing day."Mayfield added this about [TCU head football coach Gary] Patterson: "He doesn't like me, and I have no comment about that."
His team practicing in preparation of the Alamo Bowl game against Oregon, Patterson told Campus Insider's Bonnie Bernstein Mayfield's comments are untrue.
From Bernstein:
"First week of January," I heard Glasgow respond.
Patterson: "I like Baker Mayfield. I think he's a good kid and that's what disappoints me.
"If Baker Mayfield wants to blame TCU for 128 BCS schools not offering him a scholarship, that's fine. But ask Kliff Kingsbury why he didn't offer him a scholarship at Texas Tech. Ask about Baker's dad [James]. He's an arrogant guy who thinks he knows everything. If people knew the whole story, they might not have a great opinion of Baker or his father."
Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops told ESPN Mayfield was not out just to get a scholarship, but for the respect that entails. After winning five games as a freshman at Texas Tech before a leg injury sidelined him, he was still not sure if the school would offer him a scholarship. Even still, he chose to transfer to Oklahoma and walk on for the second time in his collegiate career.
"For him to just show up without ever calling anybody here tells you what kind of belief he has in himself," Stoops said. "He's a special story. He wasn't going to let anybody decide his football future for him. He was going to be the one to decide it."
